So Near but Yet So Far says Alliance

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 18th Sep 2004

Speaking at the close of the Northern Ireland political talks in Leeds Castle today, Alliance Party Leader, David Ford, stated:

"Leeds Castle has been far from a waste of time. Serious progress has been made over the past few days on a number of issues, but clearly not enough.

"The Alliance Party approached these talks with a positive and pragmatic attitude. Compromise proposals suggested by us have formed the cornerstone of efforts to break the deadlock on the key institutional issues of Ministerial accountability, and the formation and nature of the Executive.

"While gaps have been closed on a number of issues, a number of parties have not yet been prepared to make all of the moves necessary. It is concerning that there was still not the necessary will to compromise in some quarters.

"Alliance will continue to work over the next few days to build consensus on the compromise proposals that we have put forward."